Pile fabric and method of making the same



Juna 20, 1933. P. s. sMlTH PILE FBRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Aug. 9, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY June 20, 1933. @Mam 1,914,962

PILE FABRIC AND METHOD 0F MA1/gmc; THE SAME Filed Aug. 9, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Icann/ve l 00P/N6 l Patented .lune 20, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PAUL S. SMITH, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO LEA FABRICS INC., OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE PILEl FABRIC AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Application filed August 9, 1927. Serial No. 211,660.

This invention relates to a pile fabric and method of making the same. The invention relates more particularly to a novel form of pile fabric, in the making of which unwoven stock may be utilized, and in which the pile density and fineness may be Var1ed to produce a product suitable for carpets,

rugs, upholstery and various other uses; and

to a. new and useful method by means of which the pile fabric product may be made either as a continuous or an intermittent process.

According to the method which I have de vised for the making of pile fabrics, the preliminary step of spinning fibres into yarn, as

practiced in the manufacture of Woven pile fabrics, may be entirely omitted, and a corresponding economy in cost of manufacture and cost of equipment is thereby attained. lt will be apparent that the pile fabric hereinafter described may be made according to my method in any desired commercial sizes or lengths, and that the character or kinds of the fibres used, and the quality of the backing employed, may be varied in accordance with the character of the product which is to be produced.

Many attempts have heretofore been made to produce a pile fabric in which the pile is attached to a backing by means of a cementing medium, examples of such material being artificial fur, fleeced fabrics, imiand mineral fibres, may be used if desired,

either in admixture, or separately, in the production of my product.

In the making of rugs or carpets, for eX- ample,-I preferably employ hair which is unsuitable for spinning, such as goat hair which has comparatively little value. Such material is better adapted for the making of my product than fibres which may be spun, for the reason that the internal friction in the rugs or carpets made therefrom-that is, the friction produced by the rubbing of the pile fibres against each other,-is materially less. The wearing qualities of my product are greatly enhanced, therefore, by the use of fibres which cannot beispun.

The difference in-the Wearing qualities is apparently due to the fact that fibres such as Wool fibres, which are readily spun, have minute projections on the surface of the fibres which cause interlacing, or adherence of the fibres to each other, Whereas hairs, such as goat hairs for example,have a surface on which there are few projections, so that there is little tendency of the fibres to adhere to each other. When a pile carpet or rug containing Wool fibres is stepped on, the fibres of the pile rub against each other and the friction produced causes a considerable Wear, resulting in a gradual disintegration of the carpet. In the ordinary Woven rug,

moreover, the pile fibres are held in place by weft threads and chain Warps which are continuously flexed when the rug is stepped on and cause breaking down of the rug through the rupturing of these pile-retaining elements.

In the product which I have devised, permitting the use of goat fibres, the individual fibres rub against each other, when the carpet is stepped on, Without substantial friction, and consequently compartively little Wear is produced. Furthermore, by the use of a cementing medium, composed, in the preferred embodiment of my invention, of vulcanized rubber, together with a flexible backing of a textile fabric, a cushioning effect is produced when the material is stepped on which is not produced in pile carpets or structures consisting of Woven yarns in which the repeated flexure of the carpet or rugs due to stepping on the material necessarily results in breaking ofthe weft yarns and stuffer Warp, or Weakest element.

In addition to the increased wearing qualities of the product of my invention, the material has another distinct advantage in that it may be more readily cleaned than corresponding woven products for the reason apparently that the embedded dirt does not become caught in the fibres as occurs in the case of yarn pile fabrics, but is easily removed b the ordinary means through the essential y arallel fibres.

One of t e objects of my invention is to provide a pile fabric which is serviceable for a variety of uses, and which may be made directly from loose fibres or unspun stock, if desired, thus entirely avoiding the step of spinning the fibres into a yarn, as is practiced in the usual method of manufacture of pile fabrics.

In accordance with this object, one feature of the invention provides for combining fibres of any desired characteristics with a suitable form of backing by means of a cementing medium so as to form a substantially integral structure. By the elimination of spinning, cheaper fibres, which are otherwise unsuitable, are made available for the making of pile fabrics, and by the use of such fibres, which cannot be spun alone, better wearing qualities are imparted to the product than can be obtained with the more expensive wool and similar fibres which are generally used in making pile fabrics.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pile fabric, which, in addition to having greatly increased wearing quality over that of other pile fabrics heretofore produced, may be made at a minimum cost.

In accordance with this object, another feature of the inventionprovides for attaching the fibres to the backing in such a manner as to provide a maximum bonding effect witl1 a minimum amount of cementing material. A vulcanizable rubber cement is preferably used for the purpose, and, in order to attach the fibres with a minimum amount of this material, a curvilinear portion at the baseof each of the individual fibres is embedded in the cement coating, the bent portion of the fibres being maintained in this position until a backing of suitable material is attached to the cement coating and the cement is vulcanized so as to permanently hold the fibres in place. The curvilinear portion of the fibres is preferably in the form of a loop, which may be readily formed in the manner hereinafter described and by this means the fibres are so firmly held as to render it substantially impossible to remove the fibres from the cement coating without rupturing them. Furthermore, by this means a larger portion of the fibres may be embedded and anchored in the cement coating than could be attained by embedding a straight fibre in the same depth of coating, whereby a comparatively thin coating may be employed to attain the desired binding action. In the pile fabric roduced by my invention the anchorage of) the pile elements is greatly superior to that of all except possibly the most expensive types of woven pile fabrics, for the reason that the base of the pile loops is embedded in a resilient, flexible material, while in the great majority of woven pile fabrics the base of the pile yarn tuft is held rigidly between the hard, sized weft yarns and stufl'er warp.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and useful method of making pile fabrics by which a better product may be produced than has heretofore been made b means of the methods heretofore provide In accordance with this object, one feature of my invention provides for cementing a pile element material arranged in adjacent loop sections to a backing by means of a suitable cement,

A further object of the invention is to provide a method for the production of pile fabrics in which fine loose fibres may be employed in the form of a batt, in contra-distinction to yarn, cord, string, roving or other similar material which have heretofore been suggested, whereby a pile fabric product suitable for upholstery and various other uses may be produced. In accordance with this object, a batt of loose fibres is employed in which the individual fibres are preferably arranged in a general direction longitudinal-- ly of the batt, whereby a larger proportion of the fibres will become att-ached, after the batt is looped and the cement is applied,

than would be the case if the fibres were arranged in all directions. In the method which I have devised, the fibres are also acted on in the loop forming device and a large proportion of the non-parallel fibres of the batt thus become arranged substantmlly parallel before being connected to 4the backing. It is to be understood in this connectior., however, that the method which I have devised is operative upon a batt Whether or not the fibres thereof are arranged more o1 less in parallelism and irrespective of the drawing action obtained in the folding or looping device, to be hereinafter described. It will be understood also that While in the preferred embodiment of my invention goat hait, or fibres unadapted for spinningfare employed, other pile element material may be used in my method by which various advantages will be obtained. For example, if

in place of unspun fibres, yarn is employed and applied in accordance with the method of my invention, so as to attach curvilinear portions of the fibres to the backing by means of cement material, the yarn being held in the form of loops, as above described, the product formed has the advanta over the usual woven product of having t e cushioning medium of rubber at the base portions of the fibres. The product of my invention has obviously a much longer life than ru s or carpets made by the usual weavin met od, for the reason that my product (goes not employ the weft yarns and stuffer warp of the woven product which first break down, causing disintegration of the carpet or rug. It will be obvious, however, that by the use of yarns or other strands, in place of uns un fibres as above described, in the metho of my invention, that certain advanta s of the` preferred form of my invention wi l be lost; more specifically, by the use of such yarns the internal friction of the pile elements will be increased and the life of the rug or carpet will be correspondingly decreased. Further the cost of the product will be increased because of the additional cost of the yarn Spinnin v of the fi res used. It will be recognized, however, that by the use of yarn or other spun fiber elements certain advantages of my 'method are obviously retained. It will be apparent that by the use of the method of my invention any desired character of pile surface may be obtained by varyin the character of the pile element materia whereas the woven produdt is obviously limited to the use of spun fibre elements of a character adapted for weaving.

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises various features hereinafter described and more particularly defined in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in its preferred form in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a section of a batt showing the loose fibres thereof arranged in the same general direction longitudinally of the batt;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the batt shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 illustrates the preferred method for forming folds or loop sections in a batt and a mechanism or form of apparatus adapted for forming the loops between the wires or separators of a chase;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of a series of loop sections as formed in Fig. 3 showing a portion thereof coated with cement and a section of the coated portion covered by a flexible backing member;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of a chase showing the loop sections of a batt in place between the wires and a cement coating and backing applied to the base portion of the loop sections,'as illustrated in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 illustrates a section of the completed pile fabric product of the preferred form of my invention after the loopsections have been cut and the .pile has been tigered and sheared toobta'in a substlntiall uniform pile height;

Fig. 7 illustrates a orm of apparatus for carrying out the method of myinvention,

showing the manner in which the various method steps may be carried out; and

operation and 'the increased cost` Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the preferred sequence of steps in carrying out the method.

In carrying out the preferred embodiment of my invention, the raw stock to be used for forming the pile, consisting of hair, wool, jute or other fibres or mixtures thereof, is preferably first prepared by passing it through a picker, or lumpc'r, as the nature of the stock may require, to more or less separate the fibres, and to remove foreign material. The stock is then put on a garnett or a carding machine, with the object of disintegrating the fibrous masses remaining in the stock and to form the fibres into a lap or batt of substantially uniform thickness. The fibres are preferably arranged on an endless carrier in such a manner that the greater portion of the fibres will be arranged longitudinally of the batt, which produces a better and more economical use of the stock in the piling or loop-forming machine. It is to be understood, however, that satisfactory rcsults may be obtained Without laying or a1'- ranging the fibres longitudinally, as would result, for example, 'by the use of a Blamire lapper, which folds the web initially formed at the doffer of the carding machine into folds transverse to the longitudinal direction of 'the lap. I prefer, however, to lay the fibres in a general direction longitudinally of the batt, as may be accomplished by providing a wider and thicker batt than that desired to be used, and then by drafting or drawing it between rollers and at thel same time narrowing the batt until the desired width and thickness thereof are produced. By means of this drawing or drafting action, the fibres will be arranged substantially in parallelism, wherebythe loss of material resulting from arrangement of fibres transversely to the batt is reduced to a minimum. The thickness of the batt should be regulated in accordance with the pile density desired in the finished product and in accordance with character of the fibres used, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the various steps of the method for carrying out my invention may now be described. After a batt 10 of the desired thickness and width has been formed as above described, it is preferably carried by means of an apron or conveyor belt 12, moving at an appropriate speed, to the chase l1 of a loop forming machine 13 of suitable form. In Fig. 7 of the drawings is illust-rated a form of machine for carrying out my invention adapted for continuous operation, which comprises a drum 14 having a width erably somewhat greater than that o the pile fabric which is to be made. The drum may be suitably mounted on bearings and is preferably driven at a low constant speed.

The drum may be driven by any suitable means, although I preferably employ a worm wheel which is attached to the circumference of the drum and engaged by a worm.

To the cylindrical surface of the drum are attached a multiplicity of spacing elements comprising thin plates or so-called wires 16 which are preferably arranged parallel to the axis of the drum and are spaced apart at the desired intervals so as to provide the desired number of loops per inch in the final product. These wires or se arators are preferably rigidly fastened to t e drum and correspond in function substantially to that of the loose wires of a loom, which are used to form the pile in the ordinary woven pile fabric. The wires have been illustrated in the drawings, for the sake of simplicity, as being arranged vradiall to the drum, whereby the fibres in the oo s formed in the batt will lie mainl v i,n'a irection substantially at'right an es to the surface of the batt-formed by t e base of theloo s. It is to be understood, however, that t e wires or plate members of the chase may be sloped or inclined to the radial direction of the drum, so that the looped libres, or the pile in the final product may have a definite angular direction or lay. In cases in which the fibres in the product are to be inclined, a lay ofabout 30 with the vertical is preferably employed, and the plates are referably arranged at an an le sloping int e direction of movement of t e batt, in which case the loop-forming mechanism here inafter described will be inclined at substantially the same angle in a direction toward the conveyor belt- 12. By sloping the mechanism and wires in this direction, the drag on thefibres is increased, resultin in an increased action in the arranging o the fibres in parallelism, and the bunching effect on ythe fwires which takes place when the wires are sloped in the opposite direction is thus avoided. y

'Immediately above the drum 14 .is ar- 'ed a so-called piling mechanism 13 i whlch comprises a loop-forming blade 20 adapted to pass centrally between the wires 16 on the drum, forcing the batt into the space,between the wires to a distance depending on the adjustment of the mechanism, thetravel of the loop-formin blade being adjusted to provide the desire de th of the loop sections. In order to hold t e batt in place during the operation of the loop-forming-blade, so as not to displace the loops al'- ready formed, a holding means for the lastformed- Ioop' is provided, which preferably I A: comprises means for holding each side of the loop in contact with the adjacent wires, and a blade hereinafter termed a holding blade adapted to pass between the sides of thev last-formed loop to hold the remainin portion of the loop in place. The means w ich I employ preferably comprises apress er-foot 22 ada ted to hold one side of the base portion o the last-formed loop a ainst the adjacent wire or separator 16 as s own in Fig. 3 of the drawings. A holdin blade 24 is next forced downwardly into t e lastformed loopl into the position previously occupied by t to hold the remaining side of the base pore loop-forming blade. In order' tion of the loop, a second presser-foot 26 is portion of the batt into the s ace between the wires in the form of a oop.l In the loopforming mechanisms as illustrated in Figs; 3 and 7 of the drawings, the holding blade 24 is made integral with the presserfoot or loop-holding means 26, although it is to be understood that these may be made separately and separately operated, if desired.

The resser-feet 22and 26, and loop-holding an loop-formin blades 24 and 20 are preferably held in a frame 28 in which they are actuated by suitable means. In the form illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawin frame 28 is pivoted at 30 on a brac et 32 which may be attached or held in place in any suitable manner. In order to operate the mechanism, a cam 34, mounted in any suitable way, is operatively connected to the cylinder or drum 14 so as to be rotated in timed relation therewith. For this purpose, a gear 36 may be mounted on the cam shaft and a chain passing ovelfthe gear and connected to a corresponding gear mounted on the drum 14 may be used, although any other suitable driving means may be employed. Operatively connected to the cam 34 is a lever 40 which is pivoted at 42 on an arm 43 of the bracket 32, and is connected` to the frame 28 by means of a pin and slot connection 48 44, a slot 44 being formed in the arm 46 of the lever 40, and a pin 48 being connected to a sliding member 50, which is arranged to move in the frame 28 between guides 52 and 54.` As shown in the drawings, the loo forming blade 20 is rigidly connected to t e slidable member 50, and the resser-foot 26 is mounted so as 'to be movab e with to the member 5,0, being preferably hals in' spring-pressed engagement with a portion of the member by a'spring 56, the presser-- foot 22 being similarly mounted with respect the to the presser-foot 26, being resilientl held by means of a s ring 58 engaging a ug 60 lon the loop-hol ing blade and adapted to` force the presser-foot 22 downwardly. A spring 62 is employed-for forcing the pin 48 in a direction to move the piling mechanism forwardly when it is released from engagement with the last-formed loop, so as to bring it into position for forming the next or new loop in the batt. When the drum and loopforming mechanism have been brought into the required relative position for operation, the cam 34 operates the lever 40 to bring the loop-forming parts of the piling mechanism into engagement with the loop-holding separators or wires of the drum.

In the operation of the loop-forming mechanism, the presser-foot 22 first descends on one side of the base portion of the loop which has just been formed and is held in pressure engagement by means of the spring 58 against the base portion of the loop above the wire 16. After the presserl foot 22 has been seated, the loop-holding blade 24 is forced downwardly in the space between the wires 16 and 16 and between sides of the loop therein until the blade reaches the extreme end portion of the loop which corresponds to the exposed end of the pile when the cemented product is withdrawn from the chase 11. Simultaneously with the movement of the loop-holding blade 24 into position, the presser-foot 26 which is integral therewith, moves into engagement with the other side of the loop above the wire 16, and is held in pressure engagement therewith by means of the spring member 56. In the subsequent downward movement of the loop-forming blade 2O which is moved into loop-forming position and actuated by the corresponding additional movement of the arm 46, being operated through the action of the cam 34 against the lever 40, the pin 48 moves forwardly in the slot 44, as the drum progressively rotates, compressing the spring 62. The loop-forming blade 20 is forced downwardly during operation against the adjacent portion of the batt 10, dragging the batt portion into the space between the wires 16 and 16". (See corresponding wires of Fig. 3). During this movement it is apparent that the loop-forming blade 20 will stretch the batt and pass over substantially one-half the length of a loop section, the loop being also dragged over the edge of the wire 16', whereby the fibres are drawn more or less into parallelism in a direction corresponding to the original longitudinal direction of the batt, or in other words at substantially right angles to the exposed surface at the base portion of the loops.

During the time that each loop is being formed, the cylinder is being rotated at a constant speed and the loop-forming and loop-holding means move around the pivot 30, and remain in contact with the wires until the cam 34 is rotated into the position in which the lever 40 is released, the lever 46 being then returned or moved upwardly in a clockwise direction around the pivot 42 to its original position, thus raising the part 50 in its guides 52 and 54 and withdrawing the loop-forming elements out of contact with the batt, into the position shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings. In the withdrawing operation, the loop-forming blade 2() is first withdrawn, then the presserfoot 26 is released, and the holding blade 24 is raised from between the sides of the held loop, and finally the presser-foot 22 is moved out of engagement with the other side of the base of the held loop. As soon as the presserfoot 22 moves out of engagement with the loops of the batt, the spring 62 operates to return the pin 48, in the slot 44, into its original or initial position, moving the operative portion of the piling mechanism into its original position as above explained, so as to be ready to form a new loop in the batt when the cam 34 operates again to bring the loop-forming mechanism into engagement with the batt.

After forming the looped or folded portions in the batt over the edges of the wires or separators on the drum and in the spaces between them, in the manner described, a cement coating is applied to bases of the loops or the exposed surface of the folded batt so as to form a continuous even coating as indicated for example, at 65, in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The coating of cement material may be applied by means of a roller 64, which is fed preferably with a solution of vulcanizable rubber cement 65 from a tank 66. It is to be understood, however, that the cementing material may be spread onto the bases of the loops by means of a scraper, or a brush, or by other means, to obtain a uniform surface. By the use of a solvent material the rubber cement penetrates to a certain extent into the base of the fibres, thus embedding not only the outer exposed surface of the batt, but also the inner or interior fibres, in the base portion of the loops. The amount of rubber cement employed and the fluidity of the rubber solution should be controlled so as to prevent penetration to a depth beyond the curved portion of the fibres, so as to attain a maximum binding action with a minimum amount of rubber solution. By the use of a minimum amount of rubber solution the fibre portions of the loops upstanding from the base will contain substantially no cement material, and after the rubber cement material has been vulcanized and the finishing operations have been completed, the upstanding pile in the final cemented pile fabric product will be substantially free from adhering cement portions, the cement coating forming substantially an even layer over the backing material. After the rubber cement coating has been applied to the base of the loop sections, the excess solvent in the coating is preferably removed by means of blasts of air, which may be heated if desired, from one or more nozzles 70. In order to assist in the removal of excess solvent, a heating means, such as hot air jets 68 may be applied to the interior of the drum. After the rubber cement coating has been dried sufficiently, a suitable textile fabric, or other flexible material, is applied to the cemented surface of the folded or looped batt. I preferably employ for this purpose a bui-lap or other cheap textile material, although other more expensive fabric or other material may be used, the choice of material depending on the purpose for which the resultant product is to be used, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. If an upholstery material is to be formed, for exalnple, I preferably employ a fine canvas or linen, and the fibres which are used in this case should be correspondingly of fine quality. The material 72 to be used as a backing is preferably first coated with a thin coating 73 of a vulcanizable rubber cement material, which is preferably similar to the coating employed for lcJoating the exposed surface 63 of the looped att.

After the textile backing has beenA coated and suitably dried, it is united to the coated batt surface by passing it over a suitable roller 78 into pressure engagement with the looped fibre surface and the cement material is then preferably vulcanized to form a substantially integral medium between the base of the fibres and the textile material applied thereto.

The step of vulcanizing may be carried out by the use of steam heated molds 80, 82 for example, and the process may be made a continuous one by means of the form of apparatus indicated in Fig. 7 of the drawings. This device comprises avweighted member 84 suspended on the axle of the cylinder or drum, said weighted member having a center of gravity below the line of support at the axis of the drum. The molds or vulcanizing members 80, 82 are preferably applied to the uncoated surface of the flexible backing member 72. In order to apply the molds to the material with a suitable pressure during the vulcanizing step, a series of pistoncylinder units 86, 88, which are spring-actuated to apply pressure, are preferably employed, a pressure fluid being used for releasing the pressure and permitting return of the molds to the initial position, after having moved through a predetermined distance in pressure contact with the drum.

The operation of the vulcanizing molds is substantially as follows:

After the molds have traveled in contact with the united backing and coated looped batt through a predetermined distance, which may be regulated as desired, depending upon the set of the ports 92 and 94, a pressure fluid from the central chamber 90 passes through the port 02 and through port 94 which is then in registration therewith, and passes through the passageway 9G, for example, into the cylinder of the piston-cylinder unit 86, and exerts a pressure on lthe piston against the spring 87 whereby the mold 80 is released from pressure engagement with the correspomling surface of the product. In a similar way, the molds 82 and 83 are released simultaneously with the release of the mold 80, and the center of gravity of the element 81, to which the molds and cylinder units are attached, having been displaced to the right during the counter-clockwise rotation of the drum, the weight element 84 returns to the position shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings, in which the center ol' gravity of the combined elements is directly below the axis of the drum. lVhen this position is reached, the pressure fluid in the cylinders exhausts into the chamber 98 through the passage 100, and the molds 80, 82 and 83 are then again brought into pressure contact with the surface of the drum by means of the springs 87, 89, and the corresponding spring forcing the mold 83 to the surface of the drum. A new section of the coated material is thus brought under the vulcanizers, and the vulcanization of the material then proceeds until the operation, as above described, is repeated, whereby the product is gradually fed around the cylinder or drum 14 in a continuous movement and is drawn out of the wires or chase continuously by a suitable mechanism.

Instead of completing the vulcanizing operation on the drum as has been described, it is apparent that the material might be vulcanized by giving it only a set-up cure on the drum and thereafter completing the cure by passing it in the form of festoons through a heated chamber, although the method which has been above described is preferable in most cases.

Before being drawn out of the chase, the material on the drum is preferably cooled by means of a cold air blast or other suitable cooling means 102, the material being then stripped from the chase by passing it over a roller 104 or other suitable means, into engagement with a shearing device or cutter 106 for cutting the exposed tops of the loops, thus releasing the individual fibres in the material and producing a pile surface. It will be apparent that this cutting operation to release the individual libres may be accomplished either by a suitable cutting mechanism to open the loops without discarding a portion of the fibres or a cutting mechanism by which the tops of the loops are removed to provide individual fibres separately attached to the backing material.

rl`lufreafter the material may be steamed if desired. and is then preferably tigered by means of a brush 108 to remove dead stock Lif) or loose fibres and to straighten the fibres of the pile. The material is then preferably put through a finishing operation including a reshearing ofthe pile by means of a cutter or shearing device 110 to produce a uniform height, or level pile surface, and thereafter the material may be brushed or cleaned and rolled or cut into any desired lengths.

The preferred sequence of steps of my method is indicated in the fiow chart in Fig. 8 of the drawings, but it is to be understood that certain of these steps or operations may be omitted if desired, and that the various steps may be modified as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the invention, and I do not desire to be limited, therefore, to the exact steps or sequence of steps as described except as hereinafter specifically claimed.

lt is also to be understood, therefore, that the various features of the invention included in the product and method may be modified, as may be apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

ly the term fibre elements as employed in the claims it is intended to include not only unspun fibres and fibres unadapted for spinning, but also yarn or other pile element material which may obviously be readily employed in the method of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. A pile fabric material comprising a pile of upstanding unspun fibres having the characteristics of goat hair, the said fibres being looped at the bottom portion thereof and held in place at said looped portion by means of a cement material forming the uniting lnedium for the unitary pile structure.

2. A pile fabric material comprising a pile of upstanding unspun fibres having the characteristics of goat hair, the said fibres being looped at the bottom portion thereof and attached through said looped portion to a backing material by means of rubber cement forming the uniting medium for the unitary pile structure.

5l. A pile fabric material comprising a mass of unspinnable goat hair fibres, said fibres being arranged in rows of upstanding loops having fre-e ends, the fibres being connected to a` backing material at the bights of the loops by means of vulcanized rubber cement, said cement extending into the fibre mass at the looped portions a sufficient distance to embed the bights in the cement but leaving the upsfanding portions ofthe fibres substantially free from adhering cement.

4. A pile fabric comprising a compressed massI of unspinnable goat hair fibres attached to a hacking fabric by means of vulcanized rubber cement, the said fibres being arranged in rows of loops and att-ached to the said fabric through the looped portions of the fibres so that only the bights of the loops are embedded in the cement leaving free ends upstanding from the said fabric, the said compressed mass having a high pile density obtained by holding the rows of fibres under lateral compression during attachment of the said looped portions to the backing fabric.

5. A pile fabric comprising a backing of fabric material having attached thereto by means of vulcanized rubber cement a mass of upstanding unspinnable fibres, the fibres being attached through looped portions thereof so that substantially only the looped portions of the fibres are embedded in the cement, the fibres being arranged at an angular lay with the vertical and compressed during attachment of the fibres to form a solid mass thereof.

6. A pile fabric material comprising a pile consisting of unspun fibres having the characteristics of goat hair, the said unspun fibres being looped at both the top and bottom portion thereof, the said loops being held in place at the bottom portion thereof by means of a cement material forming the uniting medium for the unitary pile structure.

7. A pile fabric material comprising a pile consisting of unspun fibres having the characteristics of goat hair, the said unspun fibres being looped at both the top and bot-- tom portion thereof, the said loops being attached at the bottom portions thereof to a fabric backing by means of rubber cement forming the uniting medium for the unitary pile structure.

8. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises arranging unwoven fibre elements in a compressed series of loops so that the base portions thereof form a continuous surface with no intervening spacing elements between the bases in the said surface, and attaching a backing material to the said bases by means of a cement material.

9. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises arranging a mass of unspun fibres into a series of loops, rigidly holding the loops in place and attaching the fibres at the looped portions thereof to a backing material by means of cement while rigidly maintaining the fibres in place.

l0. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises folding an expansibleY pile element material into reverse loops so as to form two series of loops, one series of loops extending in one direction with the side portions thereof expanded into direct contact, the other series of loops extending in the opposite direction with the side portions thereof separated or spaced at the bights of the loops so as to form a substantially continuous surface and applying a cement material to the said surface to form a uniting medium for the pile fabric structure while said other series of loops are held with their side portions separated.

Y loops 11. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises folding an expansible pile element material into reverse loops so as to form two series of loops, one series of loops extending in one direction with the side portions thereof expanded into direct contact, the other series of loops extending in the opposite direction with the side portions thereof separated or spaced at the blghts of the loops so as to form a substantially continuous surface and cementing a backing material to the said surface to form the uniting medium for the pile fabric structure while said other series of loops are held with their side portions separated.

12. The method of forming a pile fabric, comprising the steps of forming a batt of fibrous material into a continuous series of loops extending alternately in opposite directions, the adjacent sides of one series of loops being in direct contact, the adjacent sides of the other series of loops being out of direct contact, cementing a backing material to the bights of the loop series having sides out of direct contact and openingr the bights of the other loop series to form the pile fabric product.

13. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises folding a pile element material into reverse .loops with sides substantially parallel so as to form two series of loops, one series having the loops extending in one direction with adjacent side portions in direct Contact, the other series of loops extending in the opposite direction and having their side portions separated or spaced, cementing a backing material to the bights of the selies of loops havizfg separated side portions and opening the first named series of loops to form the pile fabric product.

14. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises folding a batt of fibres having the characteristics of goat hair into a series of alternately reversed loops with sides substantially parallel, the loops extending in one direction having their side portions in direct contact, the other series having the bights of the loops exposed and the side portins of the loops spaced out of Contact, ce-

inenting a backing material to the exposed bights and opening the first named series of to form the pile fabric product.

15. A method of making a pile fabric whichvcomprises continuously folding a batt of fibres having the characteristics of goat hair into a series of reverse loops so that the bights at each surface of the folds lie in substantially parallel surfaces, the said loops having their sides substantially parallel, the loops extending in one direction having their adjacent side portions in direct contact, the bights of the loops extending in the opposite direction being supported so that the side portions thereof are spaced apart, ce-

lnenting a backing material to the said supported bights and opening the said loops having side portions in direct contact to form a pile fabric.

lf. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises feeding a longitudinally extending pile element material, forcing the said material into the spaces between spacing elements to form alternate loops extending in the same direction with the intervening spacing elements between said alternate loops, and opposed loops extending over and supported by said spacing elements so as to expose the bights thereof in a substantially continuous surface, cementing a backing material to said exposed bights while the said alternate loops are held under pressure between the said spacing elements, withdrawing the combined product from between the said spacing elements to release the pressure on the said material and opening the said alternate loops to form a pile fabric product.

17. A method of making a pile fabric comprising folding a batt of unspun fibres into a series of loops in close proximity to each other so that the base portions thereof form a substantially continuous surface, cementing the loops at the said continuous surface to a backing material and opening the loops.

18. A method of making a pile fabric comprising folding a batt of unspun fibres of the character of goat hair into a series of loops having top and base portions, cementing the base portions of the loops to a backing material and opening the tops of the loo )s to form free pile libres attached to the. bac ing through loop-sections.

19. method of making a pile fabric coniprising folding under pressure a batt of unspun fibres of the character of goat hair into a series of loops having top and base portions, attaching a backing fabric to the base portions of the loopsby means of rubber cement, vulcanizing the said cement and opening the loops above the base portions to form free pile. fibres attached to the said backing fabric.

20. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises folding a batt of unspun fibres between a series of parallel surfaces to form loops extending transversely across the batt, the said surfaces being arranged to rigidly hold the loops in position to permit cementing a backing to the exposed face of the loops and to permit the material containing the cemented loops to be withdrawn from one side 12o series of loops in close proximity to each other so that the base portions thereof form a substantially continuous surface, applying a cement material to the base portions of the loops, applying a cement material to one side of a backing material, attaching the loops at the cemented portions thereof to the coated side of said backing and opening the loops.

2Q. A method of making pile fabric which comprises folding a batt of unspun fibres into a series of transverse loops in close proximity to each other, said loops being of substantially equal length, coating one surface of the folded batt to unite the end portions of the loops with a vulcanizable cement, coating a textile fabric with a vulcanizable cement and attaching the textile fabric to the batt at the cemented surface to form a backing for the fibres of the batt, thereafter heating the material to vulcanize the said cement and opening the loops.

23. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises forming a batt in which unspun fibres are arranged in a general longitudinal direction, folding the batt in a series of loops arranged longitudinally of the batt and extending transversely thereof, covering the exposed surface of the batt with a rubber cement coating, coating a sheet of textile fabric with a rubber cement coating, bringing the coated surfaces together, vulcanizing the said rubber cement in contact with a mold, removing the product out of contact with the mold, and opening the loops at the surface opposite to that to which the textile sheet is attached so that the fibres of the batt are free at one end.

24. A method for the manufacture of pile fabrics which comprises forming a batt in which unspun fibres are laid substantially lengthwise thereof, drawing the batt between surfaces to further arrange the libres thereof lengthwise of the batt and mainly in parallelism, forming a series of loops lengthwise of the batt and extending transverselv thereof, the said loops being arranged in close proximity to each other so as to form a substantially continuous surface at the base portions of the loops, applying a vulcanizable rubber cement to the said substantially continuous surface, applying a backing to the said surface, vulcanizing the said cement so as to permanently attach the base portions of the said loops to the said backing and thereafter cutting the tops of the loops to form a pile surface.

25. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises forming a batt, in which unspun fibres are arranged mainly lengthwise thereof, into a series of loops by drawing portions of the batt over edges resulting in drawing the fibres of the batt into greater parallelism lengthwise thereof, arranging the loops adjacent each other longitudinally of the batt, covering the base portions of the loops at one surface of the batt with a vulcanizable cement,

attaching a fiexible fabric to the coated surface, vulcanizing the cement material so as to permanently hold the looped portions of the libres in said coating, opening the tops of the loops and thereafter shearing the ends thereof to form a substantially uniform pile surface.

26. A method of making a pile fabric which comprises arranging a batt of unspun fibres having the characteristics of goat hair in upstanding compressed looks between a series of spacing elements arranged at an angular lay with the Vertical, the bases of the loops extending over the spacing elements so as to form a substantially continuous surface, cementing a backing material to the said bases of the loops, withdrawing the cemented product from between the said spacing elements and opening the loops to form a pile fabric in which the pile fibres are arranged at an angular lay in the pile fabric product.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

PAUL S. SMITH. 

